Auckland hospitals struggling to cope

Message about
Auckland hospitals struggling to cope will resonate with
senior doctors

“The strong message about a
public health system at breaking point that Auckland
hospital leaders have given politicians will resonate with
senior doctors and other front-line staff who deal with the
consequences every day,” says Angela Belich, Deputy
Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical
Specialists (ASMS).

She was commenting on reports that
hospital bosses from the Auckland district health boards
told Parliament’s health select committee that the health
system is feeling the pressure of underfunding and
population growth, with unprecedented demand on acute
services and staff struggling to cope (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11999171).

“This
will come as no surprise to ASMS members, who are some of
the most senior doctors in the country and have been telling
us for some time about the realities of working in hospitals
that are chronically under-funded and under-resourced,”
says Ms Belich.

“It’s good that politicians are also
getting the message loud and clear from the people running
our public hospitals as they, too, are struggling to ensure
a high-quality health service while the cupboards are
bare.

“The Government needs to address the longstanding
challenges around workforce shortages and inadequate funding
for our public health system, and it needs to start that
work immediately. Winter’s just around the corner and that
will put even more pressure on our hospitals, especially as
they brace for the worse-than-usual northern hemisphere flu
to make its way to New Zealand.”

Previous ASMS research
publications have highlighted what it is like for hospital
specialists working in an under-resourced public health
system:

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